I couldn't agree more with Derek Amey’s letter of 4th December; all MPs should of course do their job, which is to keep the Government in line with its purpose.

This applies to the public too.

Such criticism of the PM and Government must be countered however with common sense and an understanding of the pandemic.

It is impossible to equate this pandemic to anything including war; the last pandemic in 1918 did not provide any of the comforts we have today.

Yes, children will miss grandparents’ visits, etc, but there is always next year; for those who say it’s their first Christmas, I doubt a one-year-old knows what day it is!

These days people can have face time via televisions, phones, etc, seeing loved ones’ faces.

During the 1918 pandemic, during the First and Second World Wars, you were lucky if you had a Christmas card or letters arrive within a month of it being written!

Yes, it is tough, yes it is an awful shame not to have friends/family visiting but I think the government are doing their best.

Yes, mistakes will be made; some decisions aren’t what I could call clear-cut and sensible but - and it is an important but - this is an unprecedented situation for anyone born in the last 70 years.

Nobody forced the mass exodus from towns and cities to beaches over summer, nobody forced the public to have parties, drive all over the UK just because they’d been stuck at home (with numerous luxuries I have no doubt) whilst the government paid most people’s wages for months.

It is always easy to criticise when it’s not your own head on the block.

At this time of year in particular have a heart, have some magnanimity for all, even Boris Johnson!

MARIA WILLIAMS

Wool